


5 Times Spider-man Shocked the Avengers With His Abilities

by Nexas_Hart



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: BAMF Peter Parker, Fluff, Genius Peter Parker, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Team as Family, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:14:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25561147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nexas_Hart/pseuds/Nexas_Hart
Summary: And the one time they were amused.(Formerly called Questionable Strength.)
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Peter Parker, Bruce Banner & Thor, Clint Barton & Peter Parker, James "Bucky" Barnes & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Natasha Romanov, Peter Parker & Sam Wilson, Peter Parker & Shuri, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Shuri & Tony Stark
Comments: 73
Kudos: 1650
Collections: Absolute Faves, love of marvel





	1. Questionable Strength

**Author's Note:**

> By popular demand, this is now a 5+1. Enjoy.

It all started with a question. Nothing too bad, just a simple little question from a passing fan.

It was after a particularly exhausting fight. One that was so taxing that the entire team willingly allowed themselves to be checked over by the medics, too tired to complain or put up resistance. A few civilians were also being treated, which led us to the question that one of the younger fans asked.

“Which one of you is strongest?”

An innocent question. Asked by a boy who couldn’t have been older than ten. But it sparked something that would go down in the history books, if the Avengers ever spoke about it in public.

***

“I think it’s the Hulk.”

Everyone looks up at the young teen. Peter Parker just glances around and shrugs.

“What are you talking about this time, kid?” Tony Stark sighs at his mentee.

“What the kid said earlier,” the spiderling explains. “About the strongest Avenger. It’s been stuck in my head all night. I think it’s the Hulk. With Thor as a close second.”

“I believe I am much stronger than the Hulk,” Thor frowns at the young one’s comment.

“Gotta disagree with you on that,” Bruce raises his hand from his position on the couch. “At least, the Hulk does. He’s kind of growling at you in my head.”

“I did beat you on Sakaar,” Thor glares at the scientist, although everyone knows it’s actually at the green giant inside.

“That’s an application of strength,” Bruce argues back in his alter ego’s favor. “You’ve had more combat training and are better able to utilize your strength. The Hulk is still stronger in terms of pure muscle.”

“Gotta agree with him there,” Natasha joins the argument, from her position next to Bruce on the couch. “I can take down Cap and Barnes sometimes, and I’m not enhanced. Gotta be in Big Green’s corner for this argument.”

“He says thank you,” Bruce smiles up at the spy.

“I’m actually with Thor on this one,” Steve picks a side.

“I’m with Bruce,” Tony chooses the other. “There’s a reason why he and Hulk are the ‘Strongest Avenger’.”

And thus, the next Civil War begins.

***

“Do they always have to go this overboard with their arguments?”

“C’mon, you must be curious.”

“I am, but this even you have to admit this is a little much.”

Pepper is currently standing next to Rhodey, shaking her head at the gathering of scientists, one of which happens to be her fiancé. They are currently in a lab, going over the readings of various different body samples that they’d painstakingly extracted from every single hero they know with enhanced strength. They’d decided that if they wanted to do this with Thor and Hulk, they might as well do it with everyone.

Some of them took more convincing than others (read Jessica Jones and Luke Cage), but they were convinced. Hulk, because they wanted to get some samples while he was dominant, was actually pretty patient with the entire process. The most difficult part of it all was finding something that could penetrate some of their enhanced skin.  
Displayed next to each separate reading is a screen showing each of the enhanced doing various levels of strength training to see if they could find their limits through the old-fashioned way. It mostly involved the use of weights, but a couple of the ones with similar builds actually tried to arm wrestle for fun.

“Ha!” Shuri holds out her hand to Tony Stark. “Pay up!”

“You don’t even need this,” Stark holds out a hundred-dollar bill. “You’re richer than me. Seriously, I’m Tony Stark, and you’re richer than me.”

“It’s not the money,” Shuri takes the cash triumphantly. “It’s the satisfaction. I told you that Jones could beat my brother.”

“And you even bet against your own flesh and blood.”

“I’ve known him for my entire life,” she shrugs. “And I know his limits.”

***

“Okay. The results are in.”

Shuri, Tony, Jane Foster, Helen Cho, and Bruce Banner; along with their collection of assistants; stand side by side in front of the collection of heroes and vigilantes.

“For safety reasons,” Stark continues. “This list will not be publicly displayed, although you may gloat if you wish. We will also be keeping the actual numbers and results of our scientific studies locked up so tight that not even we will be able to get into it easily, so don’t worry about that. Now, Ms. Cho will be the one announcing the scoring.”

The expert medical doctor addresses the tablet in her hand as she tries to suppress the smirk on her face.

“I’ll just get straight to it,” she decides. “We’ll have the list on the holoscreen to let anyone here review their own placing, but the title of ‘Strongest Avenger’, as far as these results show, goes to… The Hulk!”

There are cheers. There are groans. There’s money passed around. Thor, for his part, takes it all in stride. He walks up and pats Bruce on the shoulder, laughing loudly the whole time.

“Alright everyone,” Helen continues. “Results are posted, don’t whine if you didn’t beat someone. We’re all going to act like mature adults here.”

There was whining, there was also an equal and greater part of gloating. More money is exchanged. Seriously, why were there so many wagers?

“Tony,” Bruce whispers as the heroes go to check their scores. “There’s something you need to see.”

“In a little,” he waves him off. “I’m going to go brag to Cap about a sixteen-year-old being stronger than him.”

“This is about that sixteen-year-old.”

He turns to look at his friend. Curiosity, suspicion, and concern showing on his face.

***

“Biology’s never been my strong suit Bruce,” Stark scratches his chin as he stares at the screens in front of him. “What am I looking at?”

“That’s the data we got from Peter’s work up,” Banner explains. “It shows us how far the enhancement goes, and how they affected his body. Peter’s is actually quite fascinating in that it’s intertwined with his very DNA. Quite unique, and shows that he could pass it on should he ever have kids.”

“That’s something to discuss at a future point,” Tony chuckles a bit before his face goes back to being serious. “But I’m guessing that’s not why you called me here.”

“Yeah,” Bruce hands him a tablet. “The studies we made into their bodies allowed us to form theoretical numbers for the results shown in the practical testing. For the most part, what they could do in the testing is pretty spot on with what we guessed. The only difference is…” the scientist gestures to the tablet.

Tony looks down at what’s on the tablet. As he scans through it, his eyes widen.

“These results,” the kid’s mentor double checks the numbers. “Are you sure these are accurate?”

“Helen and I already looked through it and ran the numbers multiple times. Peter should be able lift significantly more than he’s registered in his practical test, and these numbers aren’t even taking into account hysterical strength. We’ve already checked, and he wasn’t holding back or experiencing any sort of health issues at the time; which leads us to believe that he genuinely isn’t able to lift to his full potential.”

“Why?” Tony’s growing more and more concerned as he listens. “You said there’s nothing wrong with him, so why can’t he?”

“It’s nothing physical,” Bruce frowns. “So, my best guess is that it’s psychological. A mental block, of sorts. You said he doesn’t kill anyone, right?”

“No, no,” Tony waves him off. “Even on the bigger missions. Only time he’s ever killed is some of the larger battles when there’s no choice. Hates it, even when they aren’t human. It’s why I don’t bring him in for those anymore.”

“But he’s never killed while out on patrol,” Bruce nods. “Better than a lot of others, even in this building. I think that when he got his powers, this mental block caused him to hold back to the point where he could control his own strength to some degree. Keeps him from accidentally killing or hurting anyone too bad, even when he’s panicking.”

“What should we do about this?”

“You know the kid the best. I just wanted to give you this so you could make the decision.”

With a pat on the shoulder, Bruce leaves the billionaire to his thoughts.


	2. Smart Little Spider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter is smart. They all knew that, but maybe they didn't know just how smart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Second Part! Have fun with it!

Chapter 2: Smart Little Spider  
“Hey, Stark. Have you gotten ar-?”

Sam Wilson stops short, frowning. Stark isn’t inside of his lab. Instead, the only person tinkering away is the scrawny looking Spider-kid. Obviously, he isn’t actually that scrawny, if the results of that little strength competition mean anything.

One of those bots that Tony usually complains about is passing him a screwdriver while he works on his webshooter things. Next to him on the desk is a centrifuge (Yes, he knows what those are. He watches movies.) and a whole bunch of beakers and test tubes, as well as a few machines that he doesn’t know.

“I’ll be with you in a minute,” the kid tells him as he finishes whatever he’s doing.

It does only take a minute before he sets down his tools, gives the bot a small pat on its claw, and looks at Sam.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Wilson?”

“It’s Sam, kid,” the Falcon shakes his head, amused at the boy’s inability to use first names. “Just wondering if Stark had managed to get around to doing maintenance on Redwing yet. I know he’s been pretty busy, but I just thought I’d come by and check.”

The billionaire’s protégé perks up at this. “You’re in luck. I actually just finished that an hour ago,” he walks over to where Wilson now sees the drone sitting on a short pedestal on a desk. “I managed to make him a bit more streamline while still keeping his structural integrity. I even managed to increase that a bit. Stronger than before, but also able to fly faster by cutting down on wind resistance. Also, his weapon systems were a little out of date, so I upgraded that, too. Gave you a few nonlethal options, so that catching someone with a grappling hook and flying them through a window isn’t your only option when you’re beaten to the point of having to rely on him.”  
Tactfully ignoring the jab, Sam looks over his partner in the skies. The kid is right, the drone looks a lot sleeker than before, and it’s not just the fresh coat of paint or the lack of damage from their last fight. He’s impressed.

“You’ll have to get used to the new way he flies,” Peter keeps going. “But it shouldn’t be too different. Just use him a bit during training exercises and some of the lower profile missions.”

Running his palm over Redwing, the flight prone Avenger frowns thoughtfully. “How often do you work on Avengers’ tech?”

“Well,” the kid scratches his head nervously. “I’m actually kind of the only one whose been working on them for the past few months. It’s summer, so when I’m not patrolling or hanging out with my friends or aunt, I’m usually at the lab with Mr. Stark. He’s been so busy with the company that he just started handing me your tech. When I see something that can be improved, or that I think I can add, I tell Mr. Stark and he gives me the okay.”

Sam Wilson, decorated soldier and experienced combat veteran, pauses at this. After fighting against the kid in Germany, seeing him throw signs and walk on walls, he thought that the young spider couldn’t surprise him anymore.

“So, the improvements on Nat’s Widow Bites?”

“Me. I wanted to increase how strong they could be and how far they could fire. I remember hearing how she couldn’t take down Black Panther completely and he has some of the lowest resistances to stimuli when he’s outside of his new armor.”

“She also said that they were more compact without getting rid of any of the utility of the things.”

Peter shrugs. “That part was easy. I already had my webshooters for reference.”

“And Cap’s shield?”

“That one wasn’t that difficult, I just had to adjust the specific magnetic polarity on the shield and its holding strap to make it easier to call the shield back if it’s thrown off course. That one was pretty fun actually. Explains why it doesn’t obey the laws of physics half the time.”

“Clint’s arrow?”

The kid actually snorts at this. “That one should’ve been obvious. His synthetic snares and the foam landing pad arrowheads are based on versions of my web fluid.”  
Stunned once again, Sam takes a deep breath to calm himself. “So, you’re saying that all of the different improvements made on our tech for the past few months were entirely from you?”

“I have to get Mr. Stark’s permission, but yeah.”

He pinches his nose, trying to process this. “You know what, let’s just get Redwing hooked back into my suit.”

“Can do, Mr. Wilson.”

***

It’s a very stressful day for the Avengers. A confirmed bomb threat by a mad scientist with an army of robots. Obviously, said threat is in New York City, because nobody can pick another heavily populated area despite there now being bases all around the world.

“Hey guys, found a bomb.”

The voice of someone who has not yet finished puberty comes onto the coms. A few of the heroes are surprised, but they recover quickly. They’ve stopped questioning Spider-man joining them when something big happens in New York. It’s his city, so he’d help with or without their support. Might as well be with.

“Okay, kid,” Cap starts his orders. “Wait for backup. There are bots guarding the bombs.”

“It’s okay, Mr. America,” the boy says through the coms. “I’ve taken them out already… And done.”

“Done?” Natasha Romanoff comes into the conversation while fighting just to Cap’s left.

“Yeah, I was just finishing disarming the bomb.”

Panicked looks are exchanged between Cap and Nat. The Star-Spangled Man nods at the super spy and she takes off.

“Give me your location Spider-man.”

The boy calmly rattles off an address that belongs to a skyscraper. Luckily, it’s not too far away. She gets there to see the webslinger rocking back and forth on a strand of his webbing on a street lamp.

“Hey Ms. Black Widow,” he waves.

“What floor is it on?”

“Ten,” he tells her. “Best place in this skyscraper model to ruin the structural integrity of the building.”

She starts running up the stairs. While she does, she notices a few things. The first is that compared to the other bomb sites that they’ve shut down; this one has a lot more robots. The second is that, as she climbs higher, the bots start to get less and less damaged in their incapacitated states. The third is that the kid is easily keeping up with her, despite having to take all of these guys down beforehand.

The tenth floor is a mess of inoperable robots that she has to wade through and climb over while her fellow spider is able to just walk on the ceiling while guiding her to the room the bomb is in.

“Hey,” she calls up. “A little help. We’re on a time crunch.”

“Oh,” he starts, hopping down from the ceiling. “Sorry, ma’am.”

With the superstrength he has in that scrawny body of his he starts pushing the hunks of metal out of the way in front of her. She was just going to suggest he carry her above the stuff, but this works, too. Finally, they get to the room, and Natasha pauses for a moment to take in the situation before rushing forward. It’s the biggest bomb they’ve encountered so far. Makes sense, if it’s in such a large building, but it taking up half of the room is overkill even by mad scientist standards.

“It was part concussive and part incendiary,” Spidey explains as she looks it over. “Designed to take down the building and its surroundings while also trying to use that force to spread flames to the areas outside of the blast zone. Wouldn’t’ve worked, with the chemical composition and amount used in it, the force of the blast would’ve put out most of the fire, and any left would have trouble spreading in a nonresidential neighborhood where its mostly metal and glass.

Confirming that it was in fact disabled, she turns back to the young vigilante. “You should’ve waited for us. It was dangerous to try and disarm it on your own.”

“I knew what I was doing,” he whines. “The bombs themselves can be disarmed by anyone with decent electrical engineering knowledge and steady hands. The robots were harder to take down before I found the weakness in their armor.”

Natasha Romanoff knows that the bombs are far from simple. Only a few of the people on the team can do so. Stark, obviously, but Clint and Nat both have ordinance disposal training. The thoughts about the kid’s bomb defusing are overshadowed with something else he says.

“What weakness?”

“A small section at the back of the neck. A slightly flexible section that allows them to turn their heads for the targeting system but also makes them vulnerable. Like a chink in their armor. A good hit or shock there will cause their aim to be shot and will shut them off if it’s strong enough.”

On this rare occasion, Natasha Romanoff is completely stunned. It’s the calm, assured stance and way of speaking that’s coming from someone who hasn’t even graduated from high school that sets her nerves at ease. It’s impressive that someone so young can have as much knowledge and understanding about explosives and their inner workings, but it’s also sad that this same boy has the experience to calmly analyze not just the bomb but also the killer bots in such a dangerous and high stress situation. Still, a small smile graces the assassin’s face as she looks at the boy.

“Good job, Little Spider.” Then, she’s back to business. On coms again, she calls out to all of the Avengers. “Add Spider-man to the list of people who can disarm the explosive devices. Also, there’s a weakness on the back of the bots’ necks. Spidey says a strong enough hit should take out the targeting or the bot entirely.”

“Thanks for the update,” she hears Cap respond. “Spider-man, get to Wanda’s location. She’s got a bomb that needs dealing with.”

“Yes, sir, Mr. America.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos. Don't be mean.


	3. Hungry Hungry Spider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pete can eat. Now they see how much.

Chapter 3: Hungry, Hungry Spider

A shaky phone camera turns on, showing Peter Parker in what seems to be the backseat of a car.

“Hello people of the interwebs,” he starts. “For those of you who are joining me for the first time. My name is Peter, and this is my blog. Now, normally, you’d just see pictures or random short clips. Sometimes you get the occasional fun video of my internship. Today, however, you will have the pleasure of witnessing what Ned and I have dubbed, The Gauntlet!”

“I still do not see the point of this,” an accented voice says off camera.

“It’s fun,” Peter shrugs.

“And stupid,” another voice adds in.

Peter gives a small glare next to him, where the voice originated, before looking back at the camera.

“Now, I think it’s time to introduce the people joining me on today’s venture, first, our usual guests.” The screen shifts with him to show the rest of the back seat. Two more teens sitting there, one more excited than the other. “Closest to me is the ever apathetic and wonderfully opinionated, Michelle Jones!” The girl in question looks up from her book, flips off the camera, then goes right back to reading. Peter’s grin just widens at this. “Always a pleasure, Em. And at the other door is a regular sight in many of my videos. You know him from the trivia challenges and heated sci-fi and fantasy debates, as well as our Lego and robotics time lapses. Let’s give a warm welcome to Ned Leeds!”

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” the other boy is basically buzzing with happiness. “This is going to be so awesome.”

“Thank you, Ned,” Peter preens a bit. “I’m glad someone appreciates my ideas.” He moves back to his original position. “Now, I think it’s time to show everyone our special guest of the day. A powerhouse and all-around awesome human being who needs no introduction, but deserves one nonetheless. Part-time Avenger, full-time badass. Friend and Millennial, but we won’t hold that against her. The Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff!”

He swings his camera around to the front seat of the car to see Wanda giving a shy wave at the camera from the passenger’s seat. With a few more moments of letting the audience bask in her presence, Peter turns the camera back to him.

“Alright, with that out of th-.”

“Ahem,” another voice clears its throat in interruption. “I think you forgot someone.”

“Right, right,” Peter rolls his eyes, playful smile on his face. He turns the camera back to the front. “I guess I should introduce Mr. Stark. He’s our driver for today.”

In the driver’s seat, Tony Stark gives his own eye-roll underneath his glasses. “Yeah. Not like I’m an Avenger too or anything. Or the one paying for this thing you’re doing.”

“You’re also a billionaire,” MJ’s voice cuts into the conversation. “So, I wouldn’t be complaining about your wallet if I were you. This won’t even be noticeable.”

There’s more grumbling from the front as Peter turns the camera back again. “As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, it is currently eight o’clock in the morning. Too early for most of the people in this car, but necessary to begin The Gauntlet!” Peter emphasizes the last two words.

“You haven’t even told them what The Gauntlet is, Parker,” MJ emphasizes the same two words with slightly more sarcasm.

“Right. So, Ned, MJ, and I have been trying to introduce Wanda to America culture a bit more. Shuri helps out when she visits, but it’s mostly us three. Last month, it was getting her a bit caught up on internet culture and memes.”

“Wait,” Stark cuts in from the front. “Is this why she yelled that random word when she threw that truck during the last mission?”

“It was an empty truck,” you hear Wanda. “‘Yeet,’ yes? That is the word, correct?”

“Yes,” Peter nods in her direction. “You did it perfectly. Shuri also agreed when I showed her the feed from the other Avengers’ suits. Anyway, back to… The Gauntlet! So, this month we’ve been trying to get Wanda to experience some classic American and New York cuisine. She’s not used to the larger portions and variety of dishes that you can get here. While we were looking, we stumbled upon a classic part of American culture.”

“Eating competitions!” Ned’s voice pops in energetically.

“Exactly,” Peter’s smile gets impossibly larger. “They don’t have a lot of those in Europe, apparently. At least, not where Wanda’s from.”

“There was not much food there,” she explains. “It is nice to be able to eat my fill here.”

“Yeah,” Peter’s smile slips for a moment. “There’s going to be a link to donate to a relief fund that Stark Industries and the Avengers have opened up to support the Sokovian nation and people. Mr. Stark is already donating a whole lot of money, but every cent counts. So, when we realized that Wanda hadn’t really heard of this, we started searching for restaurants, diners, and other eateries where they have those eating competitions that have you finish a gigantic portion of food and you get something from it. There is quite a bit of them in New York and the surrounding area, and there’s a link to the full list and locations in the description section of this video, but we had to narrow down our choices. We crossed off the ones where the only prize is getting the meal for free if you win. We wanted an actual prize, and it’s not like Mr. Moneybags up front there can’t afford it.”

“Oye!”

“Second,” Peter ignores his mentor. “We’ve picked out one restaurant per meal. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. Four in total. Then, we had to decide based upon allergies. I can’t really eat most types of minty foods, I have this sort of aversion to them, so that took out a few of the dessert places. We had to make sure they had suitable dishes for MJ. Ned and I will be doing most of the challenges, and she isn’t. She still wants to be able to eat, though.”

“I like meat, but I’ve never been a fan of foods that are too greasy,” she leans in slightly to the camera. “So, it’s mainly vegetarian if it’s not homemade or the place doesn’t know my tastes.”

“Third,” Peter frowns. “We wanted to make sure that the places we chose were local places that also locally source their foods. No really big chains. We want to support the community with this video, and we’re hoping you’ll go visit them once we post it. And there are also a few other things we had to look out for that I won’t mention, like rules and restrictions of the specific competitions, as well as ratings on food review sights. Their overall opinions on various issues also played a major part, because we do not support bigoted owners or their establishments.”

“We’re here,” Stark says up front.

“Okay,” Peter climbs out of the car without looking away from the camera. “So, the first stop on our list is a place called Mama Clara’s diner. They serve breakfast and lunch. Not only do they have reviews out the door about how amazing their eggs and pancakes are, but they have a challenge called the ‘Pecking Order’ where they cook up a fourteen-egg omelet and give you an hour to finish. Winners of the competition get their name and picture on the wall of fame and a free T-shirt that says ‘Top of the Pecking Order.’”

“It’s a T-shirt,” Ned sticks his head into view of the camera. “And it’s got a joke on it. Of course, we have to go for it.”

“So, Ned and I are going to be doing the challenge. Wanda and MJ are going to eat ‘normal food.’” The boy rolls his eyes at that. “While Mr. Stark gets to drink his morning bean juice and foots the bill.”

***

“FIVE…FOUR…THREE…TWO…ONE…”

A buzzer goes off just after Ned swallows the last bite of his omelet. Cheers go up from the gathered audience around him as he groans and flops back in his chair. Peter is just sitting next to him, smug and triumphant expression on his face. The smaller of the two boys finished in record, literally record, time. When he did, there was nobody in the diner who didn’t have their jaws on the floor.

“Good job, Ned.”

“Thanks, bro.”

The do of them do their little handshake before walking over to the owner of the restaurant to get their T-shirts. They both unroll them and hold them up for Mama Clara to take their picture.

“You are so small,” she squints at Peter. “How did you do that?”

“I have a big appetite,” the young boy grins up at her.

“Teenagers, am I right?” Tony Stark walks up to pay for the meal. “He could probably make me bankrupt with how much he eats.”

“It’s an honor to have you in our diner, Mr. Stark,” the woman shakes his hand.

“Tony. Anyone who can make a cup of coffee this good can call me Tony.”

***

“First leg of the Gauntlet… Cleared!” Peter cheers after getting his phone back from MJ.

“I’m stuffed,” Ned burps.

“Now then,” Peter continues. “The Gauntlet’s rules, that Ned and I made up, are that the four meals have to be eaten within twenty-four hours. We chose these four restaurants, but you can pick your own. We’re going to be taking a short break. I’ll be running around the city, and eventually to our next destination, to work off breakfast.”

“Peter’s the only one actually doing the entire Gauntlet,” Ned explains. “He’s got a huge appetite in his small frame. Eats three lunches at school and regularly snacks during classes.”

“Ned!” The skinny boy whines. “You weren’t supposed to mention the snacks! The teachers might see this video.”

The best friend’s hand goes to his mouth. “Oh! Sorry!”

“It’s fine. If any teachers are watching, I swear I still pay attention while I eat. I’d be more distracted if I was constantly focusing on how hungry I am.”

“So,” Ned decides to continue on. “Peter’s going to do the actual Gauntlet, while I’m going to be skipping lunch in order to join him for the dinner challenge with Mr. Stark. Then, all five of us will be finishing dessert together.”

“Wanda and MJ have major sweet-tooths,” Peter grins at the camera. “I’ll be cutting off for now while I go for the run, but I swear this is all being done on the same day.”

***

“H-how?!”

In the locally popular grilling joint The Burger Bar, a man who inherited his skills at burger making from his father and grandfather stands stunned. A young boy, not even eighteen, seemingly built like a bean pole, just devoured an eight-patty hamburger, three servings of fries and chased it with a thirty-ounce pitcher of Sprite. All of that happened in less than half of the two-hour time limit.

“Where do you put it all, kid?”

Peter looks up at him, shit-eating grin on his face. “In my stomach.”

There’s an amused cough from the billionaire eating his own, admittedly smaller, cheeseburger nearby. The cook himself bursts into laughter at the comment.

“Let me get your hat, kid.”

The ballcap displaying the words “Raising the Bar” on its front is securely on Peter’s head as he poses triumphantly for his wall of fame picture. He’s probably, strike that he is, the smallest and skinniest person on that wall.

“Second leg of the Gauntlet… Cleared!”

***

“Ned, Mr. Stark, let’s do this.”

In the steakhouse restaurant known as the Meat-eor Shower. Three plates of specially prepared two-hundred eighty-ounce steak are sitting in front of them.

Mr. Stark shrugs at the camera. “What can I say? I’m not really planning on winning this. If I do, it’s cool, but I love a good steak.”

All table manners are thrown out the window as the three of them rush to fulfill the hour and a half time limit. The only exception is the necessity of the fork and knife as they cut into their slabs of meat. As the pace goes, Ned and Peter dig into their own meals with a gusto, while Tony keeps a decent speed but doesn’t seem to be rushing at all.

Things start to change at the thirty-minute mark. Ned slows down after getting through a little over half of the steak. Peter keeps his own pace, already finished with two thirds of the thing. Stark is only a third of the way through.

“Gotta say,” the philanthropist smiles at the watching chef and the servers as he swallows the bite in his mouth. “This is very well cooked. It takes a lot of skill to do that with something this size.”

Peter finishes at just below forty minutes, once again stunning the audience gathered. They came when they heard that Tony Stark and Wanda Maximoff, two celebrities, were here. What they found was that very same billionaire’s intern was a bottomless pit for food. They all cheer as Peter Parker lifts his empty plate up in victory.

Ned manages to finish his steak at an hour and twenty minutes. Not as impressive as Peter, but there were still cheers as one of the youngest participants in the contest collapses back in his chair with a groan. Finally, Tony Stark calmly lets the time limit pass after he stops eating at two thirds of the steak.

“Pepper says I can’t stuff myself with too much meat. I have a heart condition. Could I get a box, though?”

There are a few boos from the audience, but the billionaire superhero is good at just rolling with the punches. He stands up to go pay for the meal, while Ned and Peter pose for their pictures with their “Survived a Meat-eor Strike” T-shirts.

While he does so, Peter gives a thumbs up to the camera in MJ’s hand.

“Third leg of the Gauntlet… Cleared!”

***

“The final leg of the Gauntlet!” Peter talks into the camera. “Here at the Dairy Good Creamery. It’s the middle of the night, but we’ve planned ahead and figured out that they’re open late, so come by after your late shifts for a sweet treat. With all five of us taking the challenge, we handed the camera off to our waitress, Ms. Laurel Harris!”

The camera turns to a young woman smiling widely. “It’s an honor to be apart of this. I always enjoy it when people come to take the challenge, but I’ve never had something like this happen. Especially not with two of the Avengers!”

Turning view turns back to the five challengers as Peter continues. “With thirteen scoops of any flavors you choose, ten different toppings, two chocolate fudge brownies, and two cookies of your choice, all in a giant waffle bowl, we have to finish the Milky Way in less than forty-five minutes. Can we do it?”

With that, five giant bowls are carried out of the kitchen. Piled high with sweets, ice cream of all different flavors, and toppings galore. The owner of the restaurant also comes out, setting a tall glass of water in front of eat person before pulling out his stopwatch.

“On your marks. Get set. Eat!”

***

Peter, MJ, and Wanda stand triumphantly. Their hats displaying the words “Milky Way Navigator.” Tony and Ned both sit in their seats, sundaes in different states on unfinished. Ned Leeds is groaning in disappointment. Tony Stark is just groaning. Laurel the waitress, emboldened by her role of camerawoman, is making sure to get as many angles of the not just the victors, but also the losers, as possible. She’s actually enjoying getting so many terrible and embarrassing shots of the great Tony Stark. However, she eventually gives the camera back to Peter.

“Ned and Mr. Stark apparently had too much for dinner,” Peter explains. “But with this, I can say that the fourth and final leg of the Gauntlet is… Cleared!”

***

It’s been a few days since Peter posted the video online. Ever since people figured out that he was actually an intern at Stark Industries, one that worked closely with Tony Stark, his blog has blown up. However, he wasn’t prepared for the influx of activity his Gauntlet video would garner.

Then, he goes into the common room at the Compound.

“-Gauntlet… Cleared!”

“Oh my god,” Peter mumbles as he gapes at the TV screen displaying his face.

“Kid!” Sam smiles. “We saw your latest video.”

“I can see that.”

“You know,” Bucky looks back. “I think you might give Steve a run for his money on the eating front.”

“Really?” Peter perks up at that.

“Yeah. Me and Steve can eat a lot because of our enhanced metabolisms. Steve a bit more than me because he has the completed version of the serum, but I think you’ve got him by a good bit.”

“He does.”

Peter turns to see Doctor Banner walking into the common area. He’s in his lab coat, but also has major bags under his eyes. Probably an all-nighter.

“We did a lot more than just study your strength when we did that competition earlier,” the doctor continues. “Peter’s metabolic consumption is greater than almost any member of the Avengers. It’s what made it so difficult to synthesize painkillers for him, and it’s why we’ve had Helen issue a doctor’s note to officially allow you to snack during class. Your video pointed out a major oversight in your health during schooldays, and we want to fix that.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Peter tries to assure the man. “I’m fine. I mean, I don’t have any problems during patrol, and I’m much more active during that than I am any other time of day.”

“That’s because you’re constantly being given food. Churros, pizza, hotdogs, sandwiches. Not the healthiest, but it’s calorie rich and helps you through the day. Even then, I know you’re always more sluggish and tired when you get to the lab after patrols. It’s also why Tony and I have started insisting that you get something to eat immediately when you get here and also why we’ve upped the variety and size of the snack storage in the lab. Tony’s even started giving May funds to feed your metabolism at home.”

“So,” Sam cuts in. “What we’re saying is that we should enter the kid into every single eating contest we can and make bank?”

“If you want to do that,” Bruce smiles up at the other Avenger. “You’d best do it soon. After you tried that with Steve and Bucky a few months ago, they’ve started setting restrictions for certain mutations and people with artificially enhanced metabolisms. It’s also why they’ve added pages more for the rules of Olympic participation.”

“Does this mean I cheated at the Gauntlet?” Peter asks, concern in his voice.

“Kid,” Bucky snorts. “The rules haven’t been made yet, and those are just for the official, cash prize, competitions. Besides, you invented the Gauntlet, remember? Kind of hard to cheat at something that you make the rules for.”

“Oh yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of these restaurants are ones that I have made up. Any similar restaurants that may exist are completely coincidental. I did enjoy making the puns for the hats and t-shirts.
> 
> Does anyone want some pairings or romance in one or two of the chapters? It's there if you squint in a few of these, but it's also not really mentioned much. Not sure if it will happen. Just looking for some thoughts and opinions.
> 
> Comments and Kudos. Don't be mean.


	4. Sensible Reactions

Chapter 4: Sensible Reactions

Clint has kids. Kids do weird things. He knows this.

Clint has teenagers. They do even weirder things. He knows this.

It’s why when he walks into the Tower’s common area to see three teenagers staring out the window, he’s curious, but not surprised.

“Alright,” he announces his presence. “What’s up?”

“Shuri’s trying out some new binoculars,” Peter turns around to tell him. “They’re the size of contact lenses. She’s letting Ned borrow the glasses version she had before.”

“Huh,” Clint joins them at the window. “And how are you testing these lenses?”

“People watching,” Ned answers.

“Oh, oh,” Shuri gets excited. “The family diner. There’s an arguing couple.”

“Think it’ll get violent?” Peter asks, worried as he stares where Shuri is.

“The Iron Spider suit is prepared, Peter.” Clint hears the kid’s AI through the speakers.

“Thanks, Karen,” he replies.

“Looks like their making up,” Ned observes.

“Yep,” Shuri pops. “And there’s the make-out session.”

“The only way this could be more stereotypical is if it was raining,” Peter says.

Clint, for his part, can’t see anything more than a bunch of ants. He’s got good aim, and his eyesight is better than ninety-nine percent of people, but he’s not enhanced in any traditional sense. He sits down on the couch and watches the kids for the next hour while they point out the onlookers down below. Finally, Peter stands up.

“Okay,” he rubs at his eyes. “My eyes are starting to hurt. I’m going to get something to eat then lie down for a bit.”

“I think that’s enough testing for today,” Shuri announces. She turns to see Peter walking towards the kitchen. “Don’t eat all of the food!”

“No promises!” He jokes back.

She pulls out a small container and takes the lenses out of her eyes. Ned stands up and puts the glasses version in their own case before they both run after the human food vacuum. Clint realizes that he’s a bit hungry too, so he follows behind. The four of them raid the fridge and pantry for anything edible, while Clint also lets his dad side show and hands the three of them fruits and vegetables to go with their junk food spread.

“Pete,” he gets the boy’s attention. “Shouldn’t you take your lenses out, too?”

“Not wearing any,” he answers back after swallowing a mouthful of food.

“Peter’s enhancements gave him good eyesight,” Ned tells the archer.

It takes a moment for the bow wielding Avenger to process this before he replies.

“Kid, that’s not something you can just put down as ‘good eyesight.’ I have good eyesight. This guy,” he points at Peter. “Literally has binocular vision.”

“Not really,” Peter grabs another bag of food. “I have to focus in order to see that far. It’s also still pretty blurry. It’s why I needed a play-by-play from Shuri and Ned. Plus, it really hurts my eyes.”

“Just being able to do that much is amazing,” Clint argues back.

“He’s right,” Shuri adds. “Next time you visit Wakanda, I’d like to do a bit of studying on how your senses work. Should be fun. I could even find more improvements for my lenses.”

***

Peter’s laying down on the couch, reading through a collaborative work of Doctor Cho and Doctor Banner’s, when he lets out a snort of amusement. Most of the Avengers that are in the room with him ignore it, but then it happens again. When it hits the third time, Bruce looks over.

“Okay,” he gets the kid’s attention. “Is my thesis really that amusing? Did you find a factual error? Maybe grammatical? Spelling?”

Peter looks up from his reading. The conversation has gotten pretty much everyone’s attention.

“No, no,” the boy shakes his head. “It’s not that. I actually haven’t been able to focus on reading for a bit.”

“So, what’s got you giggling, kid?” Tony raises an eyebrow questioningly.

“Um,” he scratches the back of his head. “Ms. Potts is kind of roasting some of the people on her video conference right now. I know it’s probably private, but it’s been fun to listen in.”

“Well,” Stark shrugs. “That’s fair, I’m all for listening to her shut down some asshats. FRIDAY, put the feed up on the screen.”

“Ms. Potts is currently in a private conference that has been deemed in the ‘Not Your Problem’ protocol with the ‘Do Not Test Me’ subprotocol.”

“Then,” Natasha joins in. “Just patch into whatever bug Peter has planted in the office.”

“I’m afraid I detect no listening devices inside of that office. Would you like me to run another scan?”

“Wow, kid,” Clint whistles, impressed. “You made a bug Tony’s AI can’t detect. Good on ya.”

“Did you get Shuri to help you?” Tony squints suspiciously.

“I’m not using a bug,” Peter denies. “I can sort of hear her.”

There’s a pause, silence in the entire room.

“Pete,” Tony breaks the silence. “That’s a few floors down. You can hear that far?”

“Yeah,” he ducks his head in embarrassment.

“We knew your hearing was good,” Bruce looks fascinated. “When you started commenting about people’s heartbeats, that was obvious, but how far can you hear?”

“I mean,” the kid blushes. “Only about a floor or two past Ms. Potts when I’m focusing. The walls are pretty thick. But I can hear a lot more back at home. Thinner walls. And when I’m patrolling, I can usually hear pretty far when I’m up high.”

“Okay,” Tony gives him a slightly concerned look. “Quick question. What exactly do you hear when you stay the night here?”

It takes a few moments for the implication to sink into the teen’s thoughts, but his blush turns even deeper at the realization.

“Um,” he mumbles. “S-Some of you should probably make sure you set the soundproofing on your rooms when you go to bed.”

At that, most of the room goes into various degrees of exasperation and embarrassment.

“You asked!” Peter exclaims while bright red.

***

“What the fuck are you doing?!”

“Language!”

“Seriously, Stark?”

The team walks into what seems like a giant display of complete tomfoolery. Mostly because it is. We have Peter Parker, in the middle of the room, blindfolded and ears covered. Strewn about him are balls, drones, and any other manner of semi-sturdy projectile you could find in the Compound. Surrounding him are Shuri, Ned, and MJ. MJ’s got what looks to be a tricked-out t-shirt launcher, Ned has a computer, and Shuri has a bow.

“Are those my arrows?” Clint squints at the quivers propped up behind the female archer.

“We’re only using the nonlethal heads,” Shuri shrugs. “And I know how to shoot.”

Steve pinches his nose in frustration. “That’s not th-.”

“Hey, guys!” Peter shouts unnecessarily from his position. “Have you stopped shooting or are you just missing a lot?!”

The adults in the room give the teens The Look. MJ calmly walks over to Peter and carefully removes the blindfold and headphones.

“Wha- oh.” Peter trails off as he sees who else is in the room.

“Okay,” Captain America sighs. “Now that everyone is actually aware of their surroundings, can you please tell us what you were doing?”

“Testing out my Spider-sense,” Peter answers.

“Peter Tingle,” Shuri coughs, causing the webslinger to give her a less than amused glare.

“Peter Tingle?” Bruce squints at Shuri.

“Spider-sense,” Peter insists, pouting.

“What is a Spider-sense, exactly?” Clint raises his hand.

“Peter’s got a sixth sense for danger,” Ned supplies.

“And we’re not saying that to make him sound more edgy,” MJ adds.

“We’ve been testing to see how it works with sensory deprivation,” Peter tells the audience.

“And has it been successful?” Bruce asks, scientist in him coming to the forefront.

“Haven’t hit him once,” Shuri tells the man triumphantly.

“Well-.”

Shuri points at MJ, cutting her off. “That was cheating, and you know it.”

“So, Peter’s got another sense,” Tony sighs. “You know what? I’m too tired for this. We can puzzle it out in the lab later.”

He walks out of the training room.

“Can we get back to his training?” Shuri motions with the bow in her hand.

“I don’t feel comfortable letting you guys do it without supervision,” Cap declares firmly.

“I’ll stay,” Bruce volunteers.

“Me, too,” Natasha adds.

“Ditto,” Clint perks up.

The Good Captain looks at the faces of his teammates. Each of them showing levels of excitement and fascination.

“Fine,” he concedes. “Just don’t let anyone get hurt.”

As the man walks out of the training room, Bruce approaches Peter.

“Mind if a hook a few things up to read your brain and nervous system?”

“Already done,” Shuri tells him. “I have it synced with the cameras.” She points over to a bench along the wall. “You can watch on the tablet we have sitting over there.”

Clint jogs back from the small armory in the room, armed with his own bow and collection of arrows.

“I’ll take the opposite side,” he tells Shuri. “Should be a bit more difficult.”

Natasha approaches MJ. The rest of the room can already see the danger in both of them associating with each other.

“Got an extra gun?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any guesses or ideas on what's next. I do have my own thoughts, and I know what I want to do for the +1, but I really want to hear what you think.
> 
> Comments and Kudos. Don't be mean.


	5. Flexibly Flattering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers realize something while the Spiderling dodges their attacks.

Chapter 5: Flexibly Flattering

“Okay! This is so not fair!”

Clint plops onto the ground next to his collection of empty quivers. Shuri is in a similar ammunition situation across from him. Michelle and Natasha are similarly coming up empty. Ned, who was doing really well with his drones, is currently doing his best at repairing one of the ones that he sent careening towards Peter after it ran out of its own brand of nonlethal bullets.

“Should we put the blindfold and earplugs back on?” Shuri suggests.

“Need I remind you,” FRIDAY sounds over the intercom. “That Mr. Stark has forbid the inhibition of Peter’s senses.”

“We never should’ve let him get some caffeine in him,” Natasha smiles. “As soon as he came to his senses, he rushed back down to add that particular rule.”

“It’s almost like he doesn’t trust us to be responsible adults,” Clint sighs dramatically.

“I wonder why,” MJ snorts as she starts to collect the spent ammunition with Nat.

The Black Widow starts loading up her own weapon. “I can understand Clint-.”

“Hey!”

“But Bruce and I are still here.”

“He’s just protective of Peter,” Bruce tells them. “And I think that five against one is enough of a handicap.”

“But look at him!” Clint frantically waves his hands at the ceiling where the wallcrawler is sticking.

“That is pretty impressive, Little Spider,” Nat smiles up at him.

“What are you talking about?” Peter gets a confused look on his face. “It’s normal for me to stick on the ceiling during training.”

“I’m talking about the way you’re doing it,” she responds. “You’ve been holding that position for the past few minutes.”

As if for the first time, Peter notices how he’s sticking. Just before they’d stopped, he had to dodge quite a few projectiles while up there, some of them actually stick to the ceiling. This has led to him playing a very fun game of Twister. Right now, he’s hanging by a single hand and foot, both of them close enough together to touch each other in order to avoid the quiver’s worth of arrows that have taken up every other point around him on his gravity defying perch.

“People who train to do things like that can hold it,” Natasha continues. “But being able to do so for any long period of time usually leads to cramps in anyone who hasn’t stretched out their muscles beforehand.”

“Peter’s always been flexible,” Ned explains, not looking up from his drone repairs. “Did that gymnastics thing the kids do in preschool and kindergarten. He wasn’t able to actually compete in anything when he got older, you know, because of his asthma, but he still does the stretching exercises.”

“He’s always scored the highest on the different flexibility fitness challenges,” MJ adds. “The gymnastics and cheerleading teams were thinking about recruiting him if he wasn’t so flaky and didn’t have those health problems before the spider bite.”

“I also think the bite helped me out a bit,” Pete calls from above. “Sure, I could do this back then, but I couldn’t hold it for long. I can also bend in different ways that I couldn’t before just because I didn’t have the muscle to support it.”

Clint squints, curious. “Like how?”

***

“Do you even have bones?”

MJ pokes the Spiderling in the back.

“Yes,” she tells the archer. “I can feel a spine. Which would be nice of him to use when Flash is around.”

“But he’s literally folded in half,” Clint complains. “Hell, it’s more than that. His legs are lifted higher than his head!”

They’d started out with simple things. The splits, putting his feet behind his head, and pretty much every other thing that they could think of to show his flexibility.  
Now, however, he’s lying down on his stomach, legs stretched in the same direction on either side of his head. He’s lifting them slightly off the floor, just enough to make them barely above where his head is currently resting.

“It’s not like it’s impossible for non-enhanced,” Nat shrugs. “It still takes a lot of practice and development of your muscles.”

“I’m not double jointed,” Peter explains. “Believe me, I’ve checked. I’m just flexible. Give me something a normal gymnast or athlete can do, and I could probably copy it.”

“Oh, oh,” Ned perks up. “Show them that wheel thing. You know the one we did when we were younger.”

“Got it,” the stretchy spider immediately springs up and bends backwards into the bridge.

He starts walking his hands and feet closer and closer together until they meet in the middle.

“Great,” Clint sighs. “You can touch your toes both ways.”

“Ready, Ned?” Peter ignores Clint.

“Quick, MJ,” Ned runs over to Peter. He points to a spot a little bit away from them in front. “Stand there, he might need someone to catch him.”

Still processing what is happening, the girl complies.

“Got me, Ned?”

“Yeah,” he places his hands on the webslinger’s back to support him. “Go ahead.”

With that Peter takes his hands off the ground and grabs onto his ankles, completing a full circle.

“We used to do this all the time up until third grade,” Ned explains to the audience. “Then he started developing a bit more and he wasn’t as flexible. We would usually do it on grassy hills and stuff.” He looks over at MJ. “Get ready to catch.”

Finally realizing what was about to happen, the young girl gets ready. Even with her normally impassive face, you can tell that she’s trying to hold in some laughter. When this happens, Ned rocks Peter back slightly before sending him forward. He starts rolling, yes, rolling towards Michelle. The speed is pretty good, but it seems like Michelle underestimated the weight behind that speed. As Peter crashes into her she’s knocked back. At the same time, Peter lets go of his legs at the shock of knocking her over. Using the reactions that he’s been training and honing through his experiences rescuing people as a vigilante; he gives her a slight tug. With that motion he pulls her so that his back is to the ground and she’s on top of her while they fall. He hits the ground with a huff of air coming out of his lungs.

There’s a pause as both of them catch their breath before they scramble up from their position. Ned and Shuri are both laughing up a storm, while the other two teens send glares in their direction.

“Alright,” Clint claps his hands, holding back his own amusement. “I think it’s time to prove I am in fact a responsible adult. It’s getting late, and you’re all planning on sleeping here. Go get cleaned up and ready for dinner.”

The teens, for their part, don’t actually complain. Peter all but runs to get out of there. He’s been sweating a river from dodging all this time, and he can feel his cheeks heating up from what just happened.

The rest of the kids behind, with Shuri poking fun at MJ’s own slightly red face and Ned grinning triumphantly at what he’s achieved. Clint goes on ahead, while Nat waits for Bruce to collect his things and join her.

“Strength, speed, senses, agility, flexibility, healing factor, and metabolism,” Bruce watches where the enhanced vigilante left from. “All of that, along with his own unique abilities. He’s better than Cap, Barnes, and T’Challa put together. If he gets enough experience and training, he’ll be better than any of us. And just think about what might happen if his friend Shuri builds him a suit.” Bruce whistles in admiration.

“I’m already teaching him a bit of hand to hand,” Nat tells him. “But I think I’d like to show him a bit of dancing, too. He doesn’t want to try out for any sports teams, which is understandable, but he needs a physical outlet for his energy that isn’t fighting crime.”

“I think he’d like that,” Bruce smiles.

“Alright,” she grabs his arm. “Enough shop-talk. I need a drink after that frustrating training session.”

“Frustrating?”

“You might’ve had fun studying the whole thing, but I didn’t hit him once during the entire endeavor. So, yes, I’m going to go drink my frustrations away, and you’re going to be the bartender this time.”  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
> 
> I'm glad that most of you had the same idea about what to put for this chapter. It was pretty much what I was going to do, but the thought of showing it directly after the previous one was pretty good. It was a good lead in, and you got to see the two Avengers' reactions.
> 
> Had to put a little Peter and MJ, as well as Bruce and Natasha, fluff in there. It's the only chapter that's going to have it so blatantly, so I'm not actually going to put that relationship in the tags. You can see a little bit of the connection in a few other chapters, though.
> 
> All that's left is the +1 chapter now. I already have an idea for it. I'll write it and post it as soon as my schedule and procrastinating personality allow.
> 
> Comments and Kudos. Don't be mean.


	6. Slamming Between a Rock and a Hard Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our friendly neighborhood Spider-man walks in on another team video night. It doesn't feel as good as it usually does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LAST CHAPTER!
> 
> Hopefully it does the rest of the fic justice in its closing. Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Slamming Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Peter hears laughter in the common room. As well as the TV going with some sort of music. It’s not exactly rare to hear this, especially since Bucky discovered the internet, but something in the back of his mind makes the teen a bit cautious as he approaches. Maybe it’s his Spider Sense, maybe it’s common sense. Either way, he carefully peeks around the corner to see what all of the fuss is about. When he sees what they’re watching, he debates going home. Sadly, that’s the time when Shuri happens to glance over in his direction.

“Peter,” she calls, waving to him. “You’re finally here. We’ve been watching some videos about you.”

Bucky, Sam, Clint, Nat, Bruce, Rhodey, and Carol turn from the video playing and spot Peter. Even the happiness of Captain Marvel visiting from off world is overshadowed by what is paused on the screen. And the smug amusement from most of the watchers doesn’t make it any better.

“Shuri, you traitor.”

“I wasn’t me this time,” she huffs in offense. “T’Challa saw me watching them and showed Barnes.”

“Is he still upset about the arm-wrestling thing?”

“You’re pretty much the only one he can get back at without any large consequences.”

Peter turns to Bucky. “And you? I don’t remember doing anything to you lately. I even helped fix your arm the other day. Is this the thanks I get?”

James Buchanan Barnes widens his smile. “Just wanted everyone to see that you’re not all that great with your webs. You know that you made a lot of mistakes before you got around to webbing people up in airports.”

“That was over three years ago!”

Clint pushes play on the remote again, just in time for everyone to watch Spider-man slam into a building. A few chuckles sound at the audible smack that comes from the impact. That’s right, they found Spider-man’s fail videos.

Embracing the inevitable, and just wanting to get this over with, Peter goes over to the kitchen and starts pulling out food. Out of spite, he takes a majority of the snacks that Clint hides in the top shelf of the pantry and steals the last of the cookies Bucky made yesterday. He sits at the bar as the others laugh along with the clips of him getting stuck in his own webs and slamming into various solid objects, as well as him learning that trees and webbing don’t go hand in hand. Branches snap, gravity does its work, and he’s usually covered in leaves and twigs until the webbing dissolves.

“Okay,” Peter starts getting a bit annoyed. “Do you guys actually know how difficult it is to swing on those webs? The physics and calculations that go into finding the right arc to carry yourself to the next point. I have to do all of that in my head, within a few seconds at the most. A lot of time and practice went into that, with only a little help from my heightened senses. Not to mention how tiring longer trips can take. The pull on my arms can really wear me down sometimes. And don’t even get me started on how difficult the stuff is to use in fights.”

“I get it, Peter,” Bruce smiles sympathetically at the young boy. “I’ve seen you use this stuff up close. Most of us have even tried out your webshooters a few times, remember? It’s difficult. We do understand, and we’re always impressed by your abilities.”

“Don’t worry, kid,” Sam nods. “Took me a long time to learn how to use my wings. You should see some of my videos when I first started training. There tends to be a pretty steep learning curve for aerial stuff. It’s just-.”

The Falcon gestures at the screen. It’s currently going through a rendition of “We Will Rock You.” However, every beat is replaced with a short clip of the webslinger slamming into something, the noise enhanced and changed slightly to fit the tone of the music.

“C’mon, kid,” Sam laughs. “This is hilarious.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your comments and support. Feel free to check out some of my other works. I'm very proud of what I posted.
> 
> Comments and Kudos. Don't be mean.


End file.
